Yep, I submitted a story about this (the "real-life phaser") a few days ago, but it got rejected, without explanation. I really wish the editors would give at least some explanation when they reject submissions!
Anyway, for those who are interested in this story, you can find more information here.
Another tool that you can use to stream MP3 via multicast (using the open standard RTP/RTCP protocol) is "liveCaster". This tool can take its MP3 input either from files, or from a HTTP stream (e.g., one from icecast/shoutcast).
One benefit over "Obsequium" is that liveCaster implements RTCP (RTP's companion status reporting protocol), and (optionally) sends SDP announcements for its session. liveCaster also optionally supports an alternative, more loss-tolerant payload format.
FYI, if you don't want to wait for Bluetooth (or if you want more range than Bluetooth gives you, and don't mind the extra power consumption), then it's quite straightforward to use a Linux (or FreeBSD, or other Unix) box as a 802.11 base station.
Serendipity. This discussion appeared on Slashdot just hours after I'd finished writing this document, which describes how you can use a Unix (including Linux) computer as a 802.11 wireless base station.
If you want to use a deliberately fake domain name, please don't just make up something that you think is fake; instead, use EXAMPLE.COM (or.NET or.ORG). IANA has deliberately reserved these domain names for this purpose.
As the article notes, interest in ham radio has declined noticeably since the rise in popularity of the Internet. Given that the Internet is a cheaper and far more powerful communication medium, perhaps it's time now to retire ham radio? The radio spectrum currently used by ham radio could be more effectively reused for Internet traffic (IP). (Ideally this would be done in a way that would leave at least part of it available to 'amateurs'.)
Am I the only person put off by the use of the phrase "open source leaders"? As someone who has been working with open source software and basically following the open source philosophy since the 1980s (back even before the term "open source software" was coined), I certainly don't consider these relative newcomers:-) my "leaders".
The people quoted could be referred to as open source "activists", "evangelists", or "reporters". But referring to someone as an "open source leader" is like referring to someone as a "leader of capitalism" - the concept makes no sense.
Thanks to David Johnson from ATI for this information. However, he notes: "The reason [the VHA library] has to be binary is so that 3rd party DVD player developers can link in this library into their DVD player and protect CSS encryption".
An alternative would be to release the source code to the library under the LGPL, rather than the GPL. This would also allow third-parties to link the library into closed-source applications, while making the library code open-source.
When "Mixter" wrote his original programs to demonstrate DDOS attacks, did he include mechanisms for conceiling the identity of the nodes involved, or were these conceilment mechanisms added later by crackers? This is not clear from the interview.
If the original programs included conceilment mechanisms, then it's hard for "Mixter" to argue that their purpose was solely to demonstrate vulnerabilities and serve as a warning.
What [CSS] lets the consortium do is determine who will make players, and on what terms, and who will provide content. If you can neither encrypt or decrypt the bit stream, you are locked out of both markets. [snip] Want to produce content - well, you need a license to produce the encrypted bitstream that will go on a disk, or you'll have to deal with someone who does.
This is not quite correct. Although CSS lets the DVD consortium control who can make players, it doesn't necessarily control who can produce DVD content, because the use of CSS encryption on a DVD video is optional. There are apparently several 'non-Hollywood' DVD titles in existence that are not encrypted. (I've been told, for example, that "Earthwatch" is one such title, although I haven't yet checked this myself.)
Of course, I imagine that any content producers that belong to the MPAA will be under pressure (covert or overt) to encrypt all their content using CSS...
QuickTime is best thought of as a packaging of existing codecs and open standard protocols, rather than as specific technology per se. (Quicktime's major technical contribution is its container file format, which, fortunately, has formed the basis of the file format used in the MPEG-4 standard.)
As long as we also support these standard codecs and (especially) protocols and data formats - RTP/RTCP, RTSP, SDP/SAP, etc. etc. - we'll find that QuickTime will be mostly compatible.
Good point. Note, BTW, that China has recently announced plans to send men into space. (A capsule has already undergone unmanned tests.) Rest assured that once Chinese astronauts start orbiting the Earth, the U.S. Congress will start showing a lot more interest in supporting the manned space program.
Linux is getting all the attention these days, but another Open Source OS - FreeBSD - should also have been included in the tests. Many large web sites (e.g., Yahoo) use FreeBSD, and it's networking implementation is solid.
It's worth noting that WAP - especially its low-level protocols intended to replace IP and TCP - has been widely discredited within the Internet engineering and research communities. See, for example, the critique "W* Effect Considered Harmful". There is also ongoing work within the IETF on compression techniques, etc., to make TCP/IP work better on low-bandwidth wireless links, making much of WAP unnecessary.
These patent claims may simply be speeding up WAP's demise.
Does anyone know if operators of one of these new low-power FM stations would be permitted to send digital data on their channel, or whether FCC regulations would require regular analog audio (boring...) to be broadcast?
If data is allowed, then this could be a great service for "community webcasting". I suspect, though, that the FCC will want to restrict these stations to using plain-ol' analog audio.
If your home network is switched Ethernet, it'll support IP multicast. So, you can take advantage of this by multicasting your video and/or audio, and tuning into it whereever in your house (& however many times) you wish.
For example, you can use a program like "liveCaster" to multicast your MP3 streams. (There's a Linux version.)
Slashdot Mirror
Let's see how long it takes before someone proposes legislation making it illegal to wear a mask in public.
Anyway, for those who are interested in this story, you can find more information here.
One benefit over "Obsequium" is that liveCaster implements RTCP (RTP's companion status reporting protocol), and (optionally) sends SDP announcements for its session. liveCaster also optionally supports an alternative, more loss-tolerant payload format.
liveCaster (and the RTP plugin for Winamp) is built from the Open Source "LIVE.COM Streaming Media" library.
According to this link, the problem with Cassini's gyros appears to gone away (for now, at least).
For more details, see http://www.live.com/wireless
Serendipity. This discussion appeared on Slashdot just hours after I'd finished writing this document, which describes how you can use a Unix (including Linux) computer as a 802.11 wireless base station.
If you want to use a deliberately fake domain name, please don't just make up something that you think is fake; instead, use EXAMPLE.COM (or .NET or .ORG). IANA has deliberately reserved these domain names for this purpose.
Look at FreeAmp. It's open source, and has pre-built versions for Linux and Windows.
As the article notes, interest in ham radio has declined noticeably since the rise in popularity of the Internet. Given that the Internet is a cheaper and far more powerful communication medium, perhaps it's time now to retire ham radio? The radio spectrum currently used by ham radio could be more effectively reused for Internet traffic (IP). (Ideally this would be done in a way that would leave at least part of it available to 'amateurs'.)
"IP over everything!"
Am I the only person put off by the use of the phrase "open source leaders"? As someone who has been working with open source software and basically following the open source philosophy since the 1980s (back even before the term "open source software" was coined), I certainly don't consider these relative newcomers :-) my "leaders".
The people quoted could be referred to as open source "activists", "evangelists", or "reporters". But referring to someone as an "open source leader" is like referring to someone as a "leader of capitalism" - the concept makes no sense.
An alternative would be to release the source code to the library under the LGPL, rather than the GPL. This would also allow third-parties to link the library into closed-source applications, while making the library code open-source.
When "Mixter" wrote his original programs to demonstrate DDOS attacks, did he include mechanisms for conceiling the identity of the nodes involved, or were these conceilment mechanisms added later by crackers? This is not clear from the interview.
If the original programs included conceilment mechanisms, then it's hard for "Mixter" to argue that their purpose was solely to demonstrate vulnerabilities and serve as a warning.
What [CSS] lets the consortium do is determine who will make players, and on what terms, and who will provide content. If you can neither encrypt or decrypt the bit stream, you are locked out of both markets. [snip] Want to produce content - well, you need a license to produce the encrypted bitstream that will go on a disk, or you'll have to deal with someone who does.
This is not quite correct. Although CSS lets the DVD consortium control who can make players, it doesn't necessarily control who can produce DVD content, because the use of CSS encryption on a DVD video is optional. There are apparently several 'non-Hollywood' DVD titles in existence that are not encrypted. (I've been told, for example, that "Earthwatch" is one such title, although I haven't yet checked this myself.)
Of course, I imagine that any content producers that belong to the MPAA will be under pressure (covert or overt) to encrypt all their content using CSS...
How ironic that an article on user interface design should appear as white text on a black background :-(
As long as we also support these standard codecs and (especially) protocols and data formats - RTP/RTCP, RTSP, SDP/SAP, etc. etc. - we'll find that QuickTime will be mostly compatible.
Good point. Note, BTW, that China has recently announced plans to send men into space. (A capsule has already undergone unmanned tests.) Rest assured that once Chinese astronauts start orbiting the Earth, the U.S. Congress will start showing a lot more interest in supporting the manned space program.
Linux is getting all the attention these days, but another Open Source OS - FreeBSD - should also have been included in the tests. Many large web sites (e.g., Yahoo) use FreeBSD, and it's networking implementation is solid.
These patent claims may simply be speeding up WAP's demise.
If data is allowed, then this could be a great service for "community webcasting". I suspect, though, that the FCC will want to restrict these stations to using plain-ol' analog audio.
...try typing in just the word "Mark", then select repeated translation to/from German.
For example, you can use a program like " liveCaster " to multicast your MP3 streams. (There's a Linux version.)